{
  "id": 27839,
  "title": "Former IGP and Defence Secy, convicted and sentenced to death over Easter massacre",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/02/former-igp-and-defence-secy-convicted-and-sentenced-to-death-over",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-02T00:06:20.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Island Sri Lanka",
    "slug": "the-island-sri-lanka",
    "url": "http://island.lk/former-igp-and-defence-secy-convicted-and-sentenced-to-death-over-easter-massacre/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando have been sentenced to death by the Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar for failing to prevent the 2019 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks. Both officials were found guilty of criminal negligence, dereliction of duty, and aiding and abetting deaths arising from their alleged failure to act on advance intelligence of an imminent terrorist attack. Despite receiving intelligence warnings prior to the attacks, the prosecution alleged that both officials failed to take timely preventive measures, resulting in the coordinated suicide bombings. The verdicts were delivered following separate trials against the two officials, with Justices Priyantha Liyanage, Thilakarathna Bandara, and Viraj Weerasuriya forming the three-member Trial-at-Bar. Both Jayasundara and Fernando were initially acquitted by a previous Colombo Permanent High Court Trial-at-Bar in February 2022, but the Attorney General appealed the acquittals, leading to the current retrials and the subsequent death sentences. The Supreme Court had previously held both officials personally liable for violating the fundamental rights of the victims in a fundamental rights case in January 2023, ordering them to pay compensation of Rs. 75 million and Rs. 50 million, respectively.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}